Instagram Rolls out an Update Just in Time for the Holiday Season: Here’s What’s New

Instagram is already in the holiday spirit and has debuted a set of new creative tools to make your photos and stories look more Christmas-y. The Facebook-owned company has not only introduced a bunch of winter and holiday-related material for the camera but it also updated the Superzoom feature to make them even more fun. Instagram Stories has managed to attract many users away from its rivals and the company doesn’t want to lose ground in the holiday season. So, here are all the new features that’ve been improved with this update:

Holiday-themed Filters and Stickers

With an extensive focus on Instagram Stories, the company has updated all its face filters and stickers to match the holiday spirit. It has introduced 3 new filters, namely snow-frosted glass that you can use to draw anything, holiday makeup, and balloons that have been filled with confetti. You can access any one of the face filters by swiping to the right from your Instagram feed and tapping on the smiley next to the shutter icon.

Now that you’re in the camera mode, you can also swipe up from the bottom to use all the new holiday-themed stickers that have found their way into the photo-sharing app. It has further been mentioned that new stickers will be made available on the basis of the season at your location.I’m seeing winter-related stuff, a cool penguin, sleds, hot chocolate and much more. Here are a few screenshots of the same:

New Superzoom Sound Effects

If you remember, Instagram had debuted a Superzoom feature that enabled you to record dramatic yet funny videos of any subject. The camera zoomed on the object that you point the phone towards with a suspenseful music playing in the background. Well, the company has today upgraded the Superzoom feature with new zoom and sound effects to keep it relevant for the teenage crowd.

Instagram has now included a ‘musical note’ icon above the circular record button and you can tap the same to change the dramatic effect you want to use for your Superzoom video. The original zoom and sound combo still exists but you get three new choices, namely Bounce, Beats, or TV Show. Each of these new options has their own distinct zoom and sound qualities. Here are the Bounce and TV Show effects:

Instagram says that their holiday-themed updates will roll out as part of version 26 of the app on both iOS and Android. The company has recently been releasing new features in quick succession to maintain a lead over its competitors. And it has definitely given them an edge among the users, who love sharing their life on the platform.

The face filters, stickers, and Superzoom features have already gone live for Android beta testers, like me, so you can update your app to get access to the features right away. The new Superzoom update is expected to reach all users over the coming weeks. So, are you psyched for the festivities and holidays? Let us know your thoughts on the new features in the comments down below.